1 


I 


Training  of  Specialized  Staff 

Leadership 


A  Paper  presented  at  the  Council  of  Cities  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Buffalo,  New  York 

February  23,  1921 


by 

Walter  Scott  Athearn 

Director ,  Boston  University  School  of 
Religious  Education  and 
Social  Service 


Reprinted  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Council  of  Cities  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  Buffalo,  New  York,  February  22-24,  1921,  by  the 
Department  of  City  Work  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  and 
Church  Extension  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
1701  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania 


’  |  'HIS  PAPER  presents  the  standards 
and  methods  which  are  in  successful 
operation  in  the  Schools  of  Religious 
Education  and  Social  Service  of  Boston 
University.  It  has  been  reprinted  for 
the  information  of  students  and  friends 
who  are  vitally  interested  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  adequate  training  facilities  for 
Christian  leadership. 


TRAINING  OF  SPECIALIZED  STAFF  LEADERSHIP 


By  Walter  S.  Athearn 

Director  of  the  School  of  Religious  Education  and  Social 
Service,  Boston  University,  Boston,  Massachusetts 

I.  Introduction 

There  is  an  increasing  tendency  to  confine  the  use  of  the 
term  “staff”  to  the  specialized  supervisors  or  operators  attached 
to  the  chief  officer  of  administration  of  an  institution  or  of  a 
business,  military  or  professional  organization  or  agency;  for 
example,  the  staff  of  a  hospital  would  be  the  group  of  specialists 
who  operate  under  the  general  direction  of  the  head  surgeon ; 
the  staff  of  a  general  would  be  the  group  of  men  who  are 
attached  to  “headquarters”  for  special  assignments ;  the  staff  of 
a  superintendent  of  education  would  comprise  the  experts  who 
carry  the  educational  policies  of  the  superintendent  to  the  rank 
and  file  of  teachers  and  principals  in  the  educational  system  and 
who  assist  directly  in  the  formation  of  policies.  In  this  technical 
sense,  heads  of  departments,  for  example,  having  administrative 
responsibilities  which  involve  groups  of  employees  or  voluntary 
workers,  would  not  be  members  of  the  “staff.” 

In  a  less  technical  sense  the  term  “staff”  is  quite  commonly 
used  to  refer  to  all  persons  who  have  supervisory  or  administra¬ 
tive  responsibility  for  the  work  of  an  organization  or  an  institu¬ 
tion.  In  many  cases  the  term  is  still  more  loosely  used  to  refer 
to  the  entire  number  of  employees,  operators,  and  helpers  en¬ 
gaged  in  an  enterprise  under  a  common  leadership. 

It  has  not  seemed  wise  to  confine  the  discussion  of  the 
training  of  the  “staff”  of  the  minister  in  the  local  parish  to 
the  technical  connotation  of  that  term.  For  the  purposes  of 
this  paper  the  “staff”  will,  therefore,  include  all  persons  having 
administration,  supervisory  or  instructorial  responsibility. 

In  every  enterprise  which  has  continuity  training  in  some 
form  is  always  going  on.  This  training  is  either  by  absorption, 
or  by  intention.  The  Church  has  ordinarily  secured  its  leaders 
by  the  absorption  method.  By  this  method  prospective  workers 
pick  up  knowledge  and  skill  by  watching  other  workers.  They 
occasionally  receive  a  friendly  hint  or  suggestion  from  a  skilled 
workman  but  it  is  nobody’s  business  to  instruct  them.  In  the 
industries  this  method  is  spoken  of  as  “stealing”  a  trade.  A 
“green”  hand  after  watching  a  trained  man  operate  a  machine 
secures  a  job  as  an  experienced  workman.  Once  he  has  hold 
of  the  machine  he  does  the  best  he  can  to  operate  it  as  he  has 
seen  other  men  do  it.  Friendly  workmen  may  aid  him,  but 
more  often  his  fellow  laborers  “guy”  him  and  refuse  help.  He 
soon  loses  his  job  because  of  inefficiency,  but  he  goes  im- 


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mediately  to  another  shop  and  repeats  the  experience.  Finally, 
from  his  various  experiences  he  picks  up  enough  knowledge  and 
acquires  enough  skill  to  enable  him  to  hold  a  job  as  a  second- 
class  workman. 

By  this  same  trial  and  error  method,  with  no  tutoring  of 
any  kind,  many  men  and  women  have  come  to  positions  of 
leadership  and  responsibility  in  the  work  of  the  local  parish. 
Industry  no  longer  relies  upon  this  method,  because  it  wastes 
time,  material  and  tools.  Remembering  that  the  waste  in  the 
workship  of  the  religious  workers  is  the  souls  of  men,  as  well 
as  time  and  material,  the  Church  should  no  longer  rely  upon 
a  method  at  once  so  extravagant  and  so  inefficient. 

Training  by  intention  recognizes  that  someone  must  con¬ 
sciously 

1.  Organize  “trade  knowledge,” 

2.  Arrange  it  in  proper  sequence  for  easy  acquisition  and 

3.  Direct  the  learner  until  he  has  acquired  skill  in  the 
particular  trade  or  activity. 

This  training  responsibility  may  be 

1.  Added  to  the  duty  of  a  foreman. 

2.  An  “old  hand”  may  be  put  in  charge  of  one  or  more 
helpers  or  apprentices. 

3.  A  special  instructing  foreman  may  be  employed  for  this 
purpose,  distinguished  from  the  production  foremen  by 
the  fact  that  he  produces  trained  laborers  rather  than 
bolts,  buttons,  braid,  etc. 

4.  Training  shops  may  be  established  in  connection  with 
the  plant. 

5.  Separate  training  schools  or  departments  may  be  estab¬ 
lished. 

If  the  Church  is  to  train  its  leadership  by  the  method  of 
intention  rather  than  by  the  method  of  absorption,  it  must 
establish  a  definite  system  of  training  adequate  to  furnish  the 
number  and  quality  of  workers  necessary  to  completely  man 
every  agency  of  the  Church  with  carefully  selected  and  highly 
trained  workers.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  discuss  such 
a  system  of  training. 

II.  The  Training  Agencies  for  Religious  Leadership 

To  cover  the  wide  range  of  demands  for  leadership  in  the 
many  types  of  churches,  involving  lay  and  clerical,  voluntary 
and  professional  workers,  there  must  be  a  closely  correlated 
system  of  training  agencies  on  the  following  levels : 

1.  Graduate  schools  of  professional  grade. 

2.  Undergraduate  vocational  schools  of  college  grade. 

3.  Community  training  schools  for  voluntary  workers. 

4.  Training  programs  in  local  churches. 


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1.  Church  Colleges  as  Centers  for  Vocational  Training 

The  first  and  most  obvious  source  of  trained  leaders  for  the 
local  church  is  an  institution  already  at  hand — the  Church 
college.  Thousands  of  young  men  and  women  annually  go  from 
Church  homes  to  Church  colleges.  They  return  from  these 
institutions  with  very  little  definite  preparation  for  leadership 
in  the  local  church.  They  have  been  prepared  to  teach  in 
the  village  high  school,  but  they  have  been  given  no  training  for 
Sunday-school  leadership.  They  have  taken  pre-engineering, 
pre-medical,  pre-legal  courses ;  they  have  studied  domestic 
science  and  the  fine  arts,  but  they  have  not  prepared  for  voca¬ 
tional  efficiency  in  the  local  parish.  It  is  the  writer’s  conviction 
that  we  shall  never  solve  the  problem  of  trained  leadership  in 
the  local  church  until  we  have  changed  the  emphasis  of  de¬ 
nominational  colleges  form  solely  culture  to  the  culture  of  the 
soul  with  a  definite  slant  towards  spiritual  vocational  guidance. 

The  standard  colleges  of  the  country  now  permit  from  thirty 
to  forty  of  the  one  hundred  twenty  semester  hours’  work 
required  for  the  Baccalaureate  degree  to  be  selected  from  pro¬ 
fessional  or  vocational  subjects.  If  the  Church  college  would 
provide  an  equal  opportunity  for  specialized  training  in  religious 
fields,  the  problems  of  religious  leadership  would  be  well  nigh 
solved.  Until  such  recognition  can  be  given  to  religious  train¬ 
ing  it  will  be  necessary  for  those  interested  in  religious  leader¬ 
ship  to  found  new  training  schools  on  a  college  level,  create 
their  own  baccalaureate,  standardize  their  courses  and  demand 
graduate  recognition  for  their  work. 

The  demands  of  vocational  efficiency  are  not  inconsistent 
with  the  ideals  of  liberal  culture. 

a.  A  Vocational  Baccalaureate 

The  successful  religious  or  social  service  practitioner  must 
have  three  distinct  elements  in  his  preparation : 

1.  Common  elements  necessary  to  an  intelligent  participation 
in  a  democratic  society.  Technical  training  must  not  be  allowed 
to  create  class,  or  vocational  stratification  of  society.  The 
common  elements  necessary  to  the  like-mindedness  of  a  homo¬ 
geneous  citizenship  must  be  a  part  of  the  training  of  all  groups 
of  workers.  Religious  and  social  workers,  being  social  prophets, 
dealing  with  people  of  all  levels,  should  represent  the  highest 
intellectual  and  social  ideals  which  the  race  has  attained. 

2.  Culture  of  the  soul.  Students  preparing  for  religious 
and  social  leadership  must  not  allow  their  evangelistic  fervor 
to  wane  while  they  are  acquiring  vocational  technique.  Those 
personal  disciplines  that  refine  the  spirit  and  keep  the  personal 
life  pure,  clean  and  “God-intoxicated”  should  form  an  integral 
part  of  the  curriculum  of  a  school  of  applied  Christianity. 
Music,  art,  literature,  worship  and  the  humanities  all  have  a 
place,  if  properly  presented,  in  this  connection. 

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3.  Vocational  information  and  technical  skill.  Efficient 
practitioners  must  have  a  full  and  ready  knowledge  of  their 
special  fields,  and  accuracy  and  facility  in  its  practical  appli¬ 
cation. 

The  proper  combination  of  these  three  elements  in  the 
curriculum  of  a  training  school  represents  the  ideals  which 
should  be  attempted  by  such  schools.  Candidates  for  certificates 
or  degrees  should  be  required  to  preserve  a  balance  of  general 
education,  personal  culture  and  vocational  efficiency. 

Our  difficulty  arises  when  we  give  academic  credit  for  item 
Number  3  in  the  above  discussion.  Upon  what  basis  shall  we 
credit  vocational  information  and  technical  skill?  It  is  here  that 
the  Colleges  of  Liberal  Arts  have  joined  issue  with  Normal 
Schools  and  Normal  Colleges.  The  Colleges  of  Liberal  Arts 
refused  to  offer  practical  training  for  the  public  school 

teachers,  and  the  people  through  their  representatives  in  state 
legislatures  established  Normal  Schools,  and  later,  Normal 

Colleges  which  granted  the  A.B.  degree  upon  the  completion 
of  four  years  of  study  which  included  a  certain  number  of 
professional  courses,  presented  in  proper  sequence  and  related 
to  general  courses.  Such  graduates  were  received  into  graduate 
colleges  on  probation.  They  held  their  own  with  students 

who  had  taken  the  regulation  courses  and  they  are  now 
admitted  freely  for  graduate  study  into  the  leading  universities 
of  this  and  other  countries  without  discrimination. 

The  Normal  Colleges  are  able  to  show  that  historically  the 
A.B.  degree  belongs  to  the  teaching  profession.  This  title 
was  originally  applied  to  pupil-teachers  who,  at  the  close  of 
their  second  or  sophomore  year,  were  licensed  to  teach  as 
assistants  to  the  regular  professors.  After  two  additional  years 
of  preparation  they  received  the  Master’s  degree — they  were  then 
masters  or  teachers  in  their  own  right.  The  courses  which 

entered  into  this  degree  were  vocational  and  professional.  The 
professional  educators  insist  that  the  Colleges  of  Liberal  Arts, 
having  ceased  to  offer  vocational  preparation  to  teachers,  should 
relinquish  the  right  to  offer  the  A.B.  and  A.M.  degrees  and 
seek  new  degrees  to  indicate  the  completion  of  general  courses 
pursued  by  students  having  no  conscious  vocational  purpose  in 
their  study.  This  interesting  debate  is  still  in  progress  with  the 
evidence  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Normal  College. 

4 

For  further  study  see  the  following  references: 

Swift,  F.  H.  “The  Teachers’  Baccalaureate”  Teachers  College 
Record,  Vol.  21,  No.  1,  pp.  25-50,  January,  1920. 

Gilchrist,  J.  C.  “Professional  Degrees  for  Teachers.”  Proceedings 
of  the  National  Education  Association.  1879,  pp.  117-118. 

Luckey,  G.  W.  A.  The  Professional  Training  of  Secondary  Teach¬ 
ers  in  the  United  States. 

Malden,  Henry.  The  Origin  of  Universities  and  Academic  Degrees. 

Paetow,  Louis  J.  The  Arts  Courses  in  Mediaeval  Universities. 

“Degrees.”  Article  in  Monroe’s  Cyclopaedia  of  Education.  Vol.  11. 

O’Shea,  N.  V.  “Is  the  Professional  Training  of  Teachers  Illiberal?” 
Educational  Review,  Vol.  60,  No.  1,  pp.  35-41,  June,  1920. 

6 


But  regardless  of  the  outcome  of  the  controversy  between 
Normal  and  Teachers’  Colleges  and  Colleges  of  Liberal  Arts, 
those  of  us  who  are  engaged  in  the  training  of  religious  and 
social  leaders  must  create  our  own  baccalaureate,  standardize 
it  and  secure  its  acceptance  in  the  academic  world.  We  can 
gain  much  from  the  labors  of  leaders  in  other  professions  in 
their  efforts  to  gain  academic  recognition  for  vocational  courses, 
but  we  must  make  our  own  original  contribution  to  the  general 
problem.  Our  problems  involve  the  questions  of  “formal”  and 
“specific”  discipline,  the  cultural  value  of  vocational  studies, 
the  definition  of  “culture”,  the  objectives  or  ends  of  education, 
and  a  host  of  kindred  subjects.  The  results  of  research  in 
educational  psychology,  the  place  of  education  in  a  democracy, 
the  new  sociology,  modern  philosophy — these  are  the  fields  we 
must  master  before  we  offer  a  defence  for  our  academic 
baccalaureate. 

The  historical  baccalaureate  provides  a  substantial  and  pro¬ 
gressive  course  of  study  including  (a)  language  and  literature, 
(b)  history,  (c)  economics,  (d)  natural  science,  and  (e) 
philosophy.  A  new  baccalaureate  that  shall  preserve  the  es¬ 
sential  disciplines  of  the  old  and  add  values  which  it  does  not 
possess  must  provide  a  progressive,  pedagogical  arrangement  of 
bodies  of  knowledge  and  types  of  conduct  and  experience  which 
will  accomplish  the  three  purposes  already  mentioned :  viz. 

L  Common  elements  necessary  to  an  intelligent  parti¬ 
cipation  in  a  democratic  society. 

2.  Culture  of  the  soul. 

3.  Vocational  information  and  technical  skill. 

Such  a  progressive  sequence  of  courses  would  be  worthy  of 
baccalaureate  recognition.  One  Methodist  training  school  has 
announced  vocational  baccalaureates  in  the  religious  field,  as 
follows :  Bachelor  of  Religious  Education  and  Bachelor  of  Social 
Science.  The  one  hundred  and  twenty  semester  hours  required 
for  these  degrees  must  be  distributed  as  follows : 

1.  Psychology,  6  hours. 

2.  Laboratory  Science,  6  hours. 

3.  English  Composition  and  Literature,  10  hours. 

4.  Bible,  12  hours. 

5.  Public  Speaking,  2  hours. 

6.  History,  Economics  and  Sociology,  10  hours. 

7.  Foreign  Language,  10  hours. 

8.  A  vocational  major.  From  30  to  40  hours. 

9.  Electives.  From  24  to  34  hours,  depending  on  the 

number  of  hours  included  in  the  vocational  elective. 
(Young  students  are  urged  to  limit  their  vocational 
electives  to  30  hours.) 

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From  half  to  two-thirds  of  these  courses  are  designed  to 
give  those  common  elements  which  should  be  the  possession  of 
all  members  of  a  democratic  society.  The  remainder  of  the 
courses  are  devoted  to  vocational  information  and  technical  skill. 
These  courses  are  for  the  most  part  as  worthy  of  academic 
credit  on  the  basis  of  their  broadening,  liberalizing  and  dis¬ 
ciplinary  values  as  are  the  traditional  college  courses.  If  this 
assertion  can  be  sustained  this  school  can  confidently  ask,  not 
that  the  students  be  granted  the  B.A.  degree,  but  that  B.R.E. 
and  B.S.S.  degrees  be  accepted  by  the  graduate  colleges  as 
equivalent  to  the  A.B.  degree. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  maintain,  from  the  beginning,  stand¬ 
ards  that  can  not  be  disputed,  and  to  claim  credit  for  no 
course  until  it  has  been  standardized  in  reference  to  the  con¬ 
tent  and  quality  of  the  course.  This  will  mean  the  careful 
preparation  of  syllabi  for  new  courses  and  a  definite  teaching 
method  for  all  new  material  in  order  that  no  question  may  be 
raised  regarding  the  work  of  any  professor. 

One  of  the  major  problems  involved  in  training  students 
of  college  grade  for  religious  leadership  is  to  standardize  our 
baccalaureate. 

For  reference  in  the  study  of  this  problem  the  following 
sources  will  be  helpful : 

Seerley,  H.  H.  Report  of  the  Inside  Survey.  Bulletin  of  the  Iowa 
State  Teacher’s  College,  Cedar  Falls,  Iowa. 

Morehouse,  Frances.  “The  Method  Content  of  College  Teachers’ 
Courses.”  Journal  of  Educational  Administration  and  Super¬ 
vision,  Vol.  4,  No.  7,  pp.  351-357,  Sept.  1918. 

Holmes,  Henry  W.  “The  Normal  School  Curriculum.”  School 
and  Society.  Vol.  1.  pp.  550-533,  May  8,  1919. 

Bagley,  W.  C.  “The  Future  of  the  City  Training  School.” 
Journal  of  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision.  Vol. 
6,  No.  3,  pp.  121-126,  March  1920. 

Corwin,  Robert  N.  “The  Problem  of  the  Liberal  Arts  College.” 
Educational  Review.  Vol.  59,  No.  5,  pp.  368-380,  May  1920. 

Society  of  College  Teachers  of  Education.  College  Courses  in 
Education.  Proceedings  of  meeting  of  the  Society,  Chicago 
February  24,  25,  1919.  (Marshall  Printing  Company,  Marsh- 
allton,  Iowa). 

Paetow,  L.  J.  “The  Liberal  Arts.”  The  University  of  California 
Chronicle.  Vol.  22,  pp.  168-173,  April  1920. 

Athearn,  W.  S.  Religious  Education  and  American  Democracy, 
pp.  255-364  Contains  classified  bibliographies. 

b.  The  Distribution  of  Courses 

There  are  three  methods  of  distributing  courses  in  a  college 
or  training  school  curriculum. 

1.  Free  Electives.  This  plan  permits  the  student  almost 
perfect  freedom  in  selecting  from  all  the  offerings  of  the  in¬ 
stitution  one  hundred  and  twenty  hours  of  work  distributed  to 
suit  his  own  inclination,  interest,  convenience  or  needs.  The 


8 


generally  recognized  failure  of  this  plan  led  to  the  wide  adoption 
of  the  group  system. 

2.  The  Group  System.  This  plan  groups  the  courses  into 
the  logical  divisions  of  knowledge,  i.e.  science,  history,  phil¬ 
osophy,  etc.,  and  requires  the  student  to  elect  “majors”  and 
“minors”  from  the  various  groups  according  to  prescribed  rules, 
with  the  general  provision  for  “distribution”  in  the  first  years 
of  the  course  and  “concentration”  during  the  third  and  fourth 
year. 

3.  Prescribed  Courses.  In  actual  practice  the  “group 
system”  has  not  been  satisfactory.  Students  are  no  better 
qualified  to  select  courses  within  a  group  than  they  were  to 
select  them  under  the  “free  elective  system”.  The  employing 
of  faculty  or  class  advisors  does  not  correct  the  defects.  Partis¬ 
an  or  departmental  motives  often  overshadow  the  best  interests 
of  the  institution  and  the  student.  In  practical  operation  the 
group  system  results  in  the  student  “electing  subjects  as  he 
chooses,  or  under  the  adventitious  controls  represented  by  one’s 
favorite  class-hours,  the  popularity  or  unpopularity  of  certain 
instructors,  or  even  the  place  of  the  subject  on  the  schedule  of 
final  examinations.”  (Bulletin,  No.  14,  Carnegie  Foundation  for 
the  Advancement  of  Teaching,  p.  147.) 

These  facts  have  led  many  of  the  strongest  and  most  care¬ 
fully  administered  training  colleges  to  adopt  the  system  of 
“prescribed  courses.”  The  faculty,  having  in  mind  the  needs 
of  the  student,  the  content  and  purpose  of  each  course  and  the 
needs  of  the  field  of  service  for  which  the  student  is  preparing, 
minutely  prescribes  the  curricula  and  the  student  is  expected  to 
take  the  courses  as  they  are  scheduled,  subject  of  course  to 
change  upon  faculty  approval  in  order  to  meet  unusual  or 
special  situations.  The  student  exercises  his  choice  in  determin¬ 
ing  the  vocation  for  which  he  will  prepare  himself.  Having 
done  that,  he  will  pursue  the  courses  of  instruction  which  the 
faculty  has  prescribed  for  that  specialized  field.  This  method  is 
supported  by  abundant  precedents :  it  will  solve  many  embarrass¬ 
ing  problems  that  have  arisen  under  the  “group  system”,  and 
it  will  be  conductive  to  economy  in  administration. 

References : 

The  Professional  Preparation  of  Teachers  for  American  Public 
Schools.  Bulletin.  No.  14.  The  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the 
Advancement  of  Teaching. 

Klapper,  Paul.  College  Teaching. 

Bobbitt,  Franklin.  “Basis  of  Organization  of  Professional  Train¬ 
ing  Courses.”  Proceedings  of  Society  of  College  Teachers  of 
Education,  1919. 

Blodgett,  F.  H.  “College  Training  for  Teachers  of  Agriculture.” 
School  and  Society.  Vol.  9,  pp.  493-520,  April  26,  1919. 

Bagley,  W.  C.  “The  Future  of  the  City  Training  School.”  Journal 
of  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision.  Vol.  6,  No.  3, 
pp.  121-126,  March  1920. 


9 


2.  Graduate  Professional  Schools  for  Lay  Religious  Leaders 
a.  Nature  and  Distribution  of  Courses 

While  the  vocational  courses  in  the  Church  colleges  will 
send  the  great  majority  of  their  students  back  to  the  local 
church  as  efficient  voluntary  leaders,  they  will  also  send  forward 
to  the  graduate  schools  many  strong  students  to  be  trained  for 
professional  leadership.  For  such  students,  professional  gradu¬ 
ate  schools  should  be  provided  for  lay  workers  on  a  par  with 
the  standard  schools  of  theology.  These  schools  should  be 
designed  to  produce  practitioners.  They  begin  with  applied 
sciences  and  end  with  practical  arts.  They  should  be  worthy 
of  the  same  kind  of  recognition  from  the  graduate  schools  as 
are  the  courses  in  a  standard  college  of  medicine.  A  candidate 
for  the  M.R.E.  or  M.S.S.  degrees,  having  once  selected  his 
field  of  practice  must  submit  to  faculty  prescriptions  which 
are  not  required  of  other  graduate  students.  His  work  will  be 
as  hard,  as  exacting,  as  disciplinary — but  his  purpose  will  be 
different. 

These  graduate  courses  should  be  two  or  three  years  in 
length.  Groups  of  courses  preparing  for  definite  types  of  service 
should  be  carefully  correlated  so  that  there  should  be  a  proper 
balance  of  the  following  courses : 

1.  General  Courses.  These  courses  to  be  prescribed  by  the 
faculty  for  the  purpose  of  giving  background,  perspective  and 
point  of  view,  rather  than  general  culture,  as  in  the  under¬ 
graduate  courses.  These  courses  would  include  philosophy, 
sociology,  biology,  history  of  education,  etc.,  depending  upon 
the  student’s  previous  preparation  and  his  vocational  interest. 

2.  Vocational  Information  Courses.  These  include  the 
courses  designed  to  give  the  body  of  special  knowledge  required 
of  successful  practitioners. 

3.  Practice  Courses.  These  courses  are  designed  to  give 
technical  skill. 

For  further  study  of  this  problem  the  following  sources  are 
suggested : 

Janeway,  Theodore  C.  “Outside  Professional  Engagements  by 
Members  of  Professional  Faculties.”  Educational  Review. 
Vol.  55,  No.  3,  pp,  207-220,  March,  1918. 

Athearn,  W.  S.  Religious  Education  and  American  Democracy. 
pp.  369-390  (Note  bibliography  on  research  and  graduate 
work  on  pages  389-390.) 

Merriam,  John  C.  “The  Functions  of  Educational  Institutions  in 
the  Development  of  Research.”  University  of  California 
Chronicle.  Vol.  23,  pp.  133-143,  April,  1920. 

Harper,  R.  A.  “The  Stimulation  of  Research  after  the  War.” 
Science,  U.  S.  Vol.  51,  pp.  473-478,  May  14,  1920. 

“Research  vs.  Teaching.”  School  and  Society.  Vol.  II,  pp.  687-8, 
June  5,  1920. 

(The  following  study  of  the  organization  and  administration  of 
laboratory  and  practice  work  will  apply  with  equal  force  to 
undergraduate  colleges). 


10 


b.  Academic  Credit  for  Laboratory  Work 

One  of  the  most  important  tasks  which  workers  in  this  field 
will  he  asked  to  perform  is  that  of  defining  the  appropriate 
quantity  and  quality  of  laboratory,  observation  and  practice 
work  for  the  various  courses  and  fixing  the  proper  amount 
of  academic  credit.  The  easy  way  out  is  to  ignore  the  problem ; 
but  the  very  genius  of  such  schools  requires  that  we  find  a  way 
to  give  academic  credit  for  all  the  disciplines  which  we  pres¬ 
cribe  for  the  preparation  of  professional  leaders.  It  is,  there¬ 
fore,  recommended : 

1.  That  all  prescribed  laboratory,  observation  and  practice 

work  be  granted  academic  credit. 

2.  That  practice  work  which  requires  home  preparation 

shall  be  granted  equal  credit  with  regular  class  recita¬ 
tion  work :  i.e.  practice  teaching  which  requires  two  or 
three  hours  of  library  and  home  preparation  preceding 
the  teaching  under  supervision  in  a  model  school 
should  have  the  same  credit  as  is  given  for  the  prepa¬ 
ration  and  recitation  of  an  ordinary  lesson. 

3.  That  practice  work  which  does  not  require  previous 

preparation  but  which  demands  concentration,  and  con¬ 
scious  mental  application,  and  which  is  under  the  guid¬ 
ance  of  an  instructor  who  directs  the  exercise  to  a 
definite  end  will  be  granted  one  half  the  credit  given 
to  exercise  which  requires  time  for  both  preparation 
and  recitation. 

4.  That  observation  work  following  specific  direction  shall 

be  credited  only  when  a  carefully  prepared  report  has 
been  presented  and  approved, — the  amount  of  credit 
being  equal  to  that  given  to  equivalent  reports  made 
from  library  assignments. 

5.  That  no  credit  be  given  for  practical  work  of  any  kind 

when  it  is  unrelated  to  a  definite  course  of  instruction. 

c.  Problems  of  Curricula  Building 

1.  Some  Pertinent  Questions.  Faculties  of  vocational  train¬ 
ing  schools  must  give  the  academic  world  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  the  following  questions  if  their  graduates  are  to  be  recog¬ 
nized  by  the  accredited  educational  institutions  of  this  and  other 
countries. 

a  What  are  the  general  courses  which  prepare  students 
to  participate  in  a  democratic  society?  Can  these 
courses  be  secured  at  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts,  the 
School  of  Education,  the  School  of  Theology,  etc.,  or 
must  they  be  offered  by  a  separate  faculty? 

b  What  are  the  courses  which  best  develop  the  spiritual 
life  of  students? 


11 


c  What  specialized  body  of  knowledge  belongs  to  each 
vocation  for  which  students  are  to  be  prepared? 

d  What  technical  instruments  are  necessary  for  the  applic¬ 
ation  of  the  specialized  knowledge  of  each  vocation? 

e  What  types  of  organized  and  directed  experience  will 
produce  the  skill  required  for  each  vocation  and  how 
shall  practice  be  related  to  theory? 

f  Are  there  common  elements  which  underlie  many  related 
fields  of  practice?  If  so,  what  are  the  common  elements 
which  belong  to  the  vocations  represented  by  these 
schools? 

g  Granted  that  all  religious  and  social  workers  must  have 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  an  insight  into  the  nature 
of  society,  knowledge  of  the  history,  philosophy  and 
psychology  of  religion,  and  knowledge  of  the  Church 
as  an  institution  including  its  history,  agencies  and 
materials — can  candidates  for  many  vocations  secure 
their  training  in  the  same  courses? 

2.  What  is  an  Applied  Science ?  Dr.  Snedden  has  ques¬ 
tioned  the  propriety  of  calling  a  field  of  human  endeavor  “an 
applied  science/’  Medicine,  agriculture,  engineering,  navigation 
are  spoken  of  as  applied  sciences.  In  each  of  them,  however, 
there  are  used  certain  elements  taken  from  several  sciences 
and  in  combined  form  applied  to  the  achieving  of  a  given 
purpose.  Medicine  draws  from  physiology,  chemistry,  bacteri¬ 
ology,  optics,  etc.  This  fusion  of  elements  from  several  sciences 
to  given  fields  of  human  interest  gives  us  such  combinations 
as  agricultural  chemistry,  engineering  economics,  military 
geology,  surgical  pathology,  industrial  chemistry.  If  we  accept 
Dr.  Snedden’s  statement  that  the  term  “applied  science” 
applies  to  that  body  of  data  from  a  science  which  is  applicable 
to  one  field  of  practice,  then  industrial  chemistry,  toxicological 
chemistry  and  agricultural  bacteriology  would  be  applied 
sciences  and  medicine  and  engineering  would  not  be  so  desig¬ 
nated.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  accept  Dr.  Ruediger’s 
statement  that  “an  applied  science  is  one  that  draws  its  data  not 
from  one  but  from  many  sources”  then  medicine,  engineering, 
and  religious  education  are  applied  sciences  even  though  they 
draw  data  from  the  arts  as  well  as  the  sciences.  Whether  or 
not  religious  education  and  the  various  forms  of  social  service 
are  “applied  sciences”  they  are  fields  of  human  endeavor  which 
draw  their  data  from  many  sciences  and  from  many  arts. 

The  old  professional  schools  used  to  compel  their  pupils  to 
study  the  pure  sciences  before  they  would  permit  them  to  enter 
upon  professional  studies.  The  modern  and  more  progressive 
professional  schools  ask  their  pupils  to  study  just  so  much  of 
the  “pure”  sciences  as  they  are  to  use  in  their  practice.  Special¬ 
ists  are  employed  to  go  into  the  pure  sciences  and  get  out  just 
the  parts  which  are  serviceable  to  practitioners  and  this  is 


12 


mastered  by  the  professional  student  together  with  useful  ex¬ 
tracts  from  other  pure  sciences.  Religious  education  draws  its 
data  from  biology,  anthropology,  psychology,  philosophy,  history, 
religion,  sociology  and  art.  Shall  we  ask  our  students  to  pursue 
all  of  these  courses  before  they  begin  to  study  religious  educat¬ 
ion  or  shall  we  go  into  these  courses,  extract  the  elements  use¬ 
ful  in  the  field  of  religious  education,  and  build  them  into  a 
new  discipline  called  “the  principles  of  religious  education”  or 
some  similar  title? 

It  seems  clear  that  each  member  of  a  faculty  of  such  a  school, 
must  set  himself  to  the  task  of  building  the  content  of  each 
course  of  instruction  that  he  teaches.  The  first  step  in  such  an 
undertaking  would  be  to  list  the  essential  facts,  principles  and 
processes  which  should  be  mastered  in  that  course  and  then 
assemble  them  from  all  sources  in  pedagogical  arrangement, 
treatment  and  sequence.  The  future  of  religious  education  and 
social  science  as  major  academic  disciplines  will  depend  upon 
the  success  of  their  advocates  in  building  and  standardizing  such 
bodies  of  knowledge  and  experience. 

In  our  study  of  this  problem  we  will  find  guidance  in  the 
following  sources : 

Meriam,  Junius  L.  Child  Life  and  the  Curriculum. 

Athearn,  W.  S.  Religious  Education  and  American  Democracy,  pp. 
216-228.  (Note  classified  bibliographies  on  pages  226-228). 

Reudiger,  W.  C.  “Educational  Sociology.”  School  and  Society. 
July  17,  1920. 

Snedden,  David,  “Educational  Sociology  Again.”  School  and 
Society.  Vol.  12,  pp.  93,  94,  July  31,  1920. 

Mann,  Charles  R.  A  Study  of  Engineering  Education.  Bulletin 
No.  11.  The  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of 
Teaching. 

Learned,  William  S.,  Bagley,  W.  C.,  et  al.  The  Professional  Pre¬ 
paration  of  Teachers  for  American  Public  Schools.  Bulletin 
No.  14,  The  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of 
Teaching. 

Nolan,  Aretas  W.  “Project  Methods  in  Teacher-Training  and 
Vocational  Agriculture.”  Proceedings  of  National  Education 
Association,  1918,  pp.  275  f. 

Averill,  L.  A.  “Child  Psychology  in  the  Normal  Schools. 
Education.  Vol.  37,  No.  8,  pp.  373-384,  April  1917. 

Holt,  Arthur  E.  “Social  Justice  and  the  Present  Duty  of  the 
Church.”  Biblical  World.  Vol.  54,  No.  2,  pp.  136-139, 
March  1920. 

Hewitt,  Chas.  E.  “The  History  of  Education  in  the  Normal 
School.”  School  and  Society.  Vol.  9,  pp.  491-493,  April  26, 
1919. 

Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools  of  the  Southern 
States.  Proceedings  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Annual  Meeting, 
1919. 

Association  of  American  Lazv  Schools.  Proceedings  of  Seven¬ 
teenth  Annual  Meeting,  1919. 

National  Association  of  Dental  Faculties.  Proceedings  of  the 
Thirty-sixth  Annual  Meeting,  1919. 


13 


Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education.  Proceed¬ 
ings  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Annual  Meeting,  1919. 

Braisted,  W.  C.  “The  Obligations  of  Medicine  in  Relation  to 
General  Education.”  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  As¬ 
sociation.  Vol.  74,  pp.  1203-15,  May  1,  1920. 

Pilcher,  Richard  B.  The  Profession  of  Chemistry. 

Finney,  Ross  L.  “Tentative  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the 
American  Sociological  Society  on  the  Teaching  of  Sociology 
in  the  Grade  and  High  Schools  of  America.”  School  Review. 
Vol.  28.  No.  4,  pp.  255-262,  April,  1920. 

Judd,  Chas.  H.  “Report  of  the  Committee  on  Social  Studies  in 
the  High  School.”  School  Review.  Vol.  28,  No.  4,  pp.  283- 
297.  April,  1920. 

Starch,  Daniel.  Educational  Psychology. 

Goddard,  Henry  H.  Human  Efficiency  and  Levels  of  Intelligence, 

Seashore,  Carl  E.  The  Psychology  of  Musical  Talent. 


d.  Correlation  of  Theory  and  Practice 

Education  vs.  Apprenticeship.  The  doctrine  of  “learn  to 
do  by  knowing’’  and  the  later  doctrine  of  “learn  to  do  by  do¬ 
ing”,  have  both  been  tried  and  found  wanting.  Instead  of  set¬ 
ting  theory  and  practice  over  against  each  other  the  modern 
tendency  in  industrial  and  profession  education  is  to  provide  for 
both  in  such  a  way  that  each  student  is  given  “a  sound,  con¬ 
structive  theory  upon  which  to  base  practice,  since  no  fallacy 
could  be  more  suicidal  than  that  of  imitative  practice  alone.” 
(Morehouse,  Frances,  Jr.,  in  Educational  Administration  and 
Supervision.  Vol.  4,  p.  351.)  Modern  methods  seek  to  develop 
theory  in  the  midst  of  practice.  Such  schools  as  this  paper  is 
advocating,  dealing  as  they  do  with  practical  arts  as  well  as 
applied  science,  must  produce  skillful  diagnosticians  as  well  as 
profound  critics  and  analysts.  The  ends  of  such  schools  can  not 
be  realized  unless  we  can  develop  laboratories,  clinics  and 
practice  opportunities  with  such  a  close  relationship  to  the  class 
room  as  to  make  each  a  vital  part  of  the  other.  The  faculty 
of  such  schools  must  seek  to  secure  facilities  for  obtaining 
practical  experience  under  conditions  as  nearly  approximating 
those  of  the  actual  vocations  as  possible  and  at  the  same  time 
so  closely  related  to  class-room  and  laboratory  as  to  give  each 
the  reflex  influence  of  the  other.  The  use  of  the  class-room — 
laboratory-— clinic  method  makes  it  necessary  for  the  professor 
to  organize  his  teaching  units  out  of  the  knowledge,  processes 
and  principles  which  comprise  the  actual  work  of  the  practition¬ 
er.  It  is  possible  to  define  a  progressive  course  of  this  kind 
for  a  student  so  that  he  will  “work  through”  the  church,  school, 
institution,  etc.  under  faculty  supervision,  thus  joining  theory 
and  practice  in  the  most  intimate  and  efficient  way. 

The  institution  in  which  the  student  gains  his  standards  and 
ideals  for  future  practice  must  represent  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  most  approved  method  and  possess  the  latest  and  best  equip- 


14 


ment,  buildings,  apparatus,  etc.  The  student’s  first  observation 
and  practice  work  must  be  in  a  “going  concern”,  the  best  to  be 
found,  or  that  can  be  created,  not  in  a  weak  under-manned 
plant.  It  is  not  wise  to  use  the  students  of  a  training  school 
to  bolster  up  the  work  of  weak  mission  stations.  After  students 
have  established  their  ideals  they  may  be  given  an  “apprentice¬ 
ship  assignment”  in  a  mission  station  for  the  purpose  of  develop¬ 
ing  their  ability  to  initiate  new  programs,  and  adapt  their  me¬ 
thods  to  the  conditions  of  an  actual,  concrete  situation.  Such 
assignments  should  come  late  in  a  training  course.  To  ask 
students  to  practice  in  institutions  where  inferior  work  is  be¬ 
ing  done  confirms  them  in  bad  habits  from  which  they  may 
never  recover.  It  can  not  be  too  strongly  affirmed  that  practice 
work  of  students  should  be  done  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
approved  conditions  and  under  expert  supervisors. 

Further  study  of  this  section  will  be  suggested  by  the  follow¬ 
ing  sources : 

Dewey,  John.  “The  Relation  of  Theory  to  Practice  in  the  Educ¬ 
ation  of  Teachers.”  Third  Year  Book  of  the  National  Society 
for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education. 

Athearn,  W.  S.  “ Religious  Education  and  American  Democracy .” 
(Note  bibliography  on  supervision  of  Teaching  on  pages  182- 
183.) 

Vedder,  J.  N.  “Education  vs.  Apprenticeship.”  Educational  Review. 
Vol.  59,  pp.  113-123,  Feb.  1920. 

Sprague,  H.  A.  “Coordination  of  Theory  and  Practice  in  Normal 
Schools.”  Proceedings  of  National  Education  Association, 
1918.  pp.  212-214. 

Bouser,  F.  G.  “Implications  for  Education  from  Experiments  in 

Industry.”  Teachers  College  Record.  Vol  21,  No.  2,  pp.  108- 
110,  March,  1920. 

Phillips,  Thos.  D.  “A  Study  of  Note  Book  and  Laboratory  Work 
as  an  Effective  Aid  in  Science.”  School  Review.  Vol.  28, 
No.  6,  pp.  451-453,  June,  1920. 


e.  Principles  Governing  the  Organization  and  Supervision  of 

Laboratory  and  Practice  Work 

1.  Students  should  do  their  practice  work  in  the  most 

successful  and  best  equipped  institutions  available. 

2.  Apprentice  work  under  supervision  may  be  permitted  in 

mission  stations  during  the  student’s  senior  year. 

3.  Each  instructor  is  responsible  for  the  character  and 

amount  of  laboratory,  demonstration  and  practice  work 
which  should  accompany  his  courses. 

4.  The  heads  of  departments  will  coordinate  the  laboratory, 

demonstration  and  practice  work  of  all  courses  in  their 
departments. 

5.  The  Director  of  Field  Work  will  coordinate  the  labor¬ 

atory,  demonstration  and  field  work  of  the  depart¬ 
ments. 


15 


f.  Definitions 


1.  The  term  “laboratory”  is  applied  to  an  institution,  church 

school,  or  community  which  is  used  for  demonstration 
purposes  and  whose  program  and  policies  are  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  under  the  control  of  the  training 
school. 

2.  The  term  “experimental  school”  or  center  is  applied  to 

institutions  so  organized  as  to  secure  absolute  control 
of  conditions  in  which  experimental  work  is  carried 
on  by  specialists  and  in  which  no  practice  or  other 
student  work  is  done. 

3.  The  term  “apprenticeship  opportunity”  is  applied  to 

positions  secured  for  students  in  churches  or  other 
institutions  in  which  they  are  permitted  to  assume  full 
responsibility  for  a  definite  piece  of  work  either  on  a 
voluntary  or  a  salaried  basis. 

4.  The  term  “practice  work”  is  applied  to  the  performance 

of  practical  service  in  a  conscious  effort  to  acquire 
skill  in  terms  of  given  standards.  Reports,  supervision 
and  measurements  must  accompany  practice  work. 

5.  The  term  “demonstration”  is  applied  to  any  clinic  or  to 

actual  work  performed  in  the  presence  of,  or  by  the 
student  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  a  principle  or 
process  or  to  vitalize  and  concretize  facts  or  truths. 

g.  Administrative  Organization  for  the  Supervision  of  Laboratory 

Demonstration  and  Practice  Work 

The  two  factors  involved  in  this  administrative  organization 
are  (a)  the  training  staff,  and  (b)  the  supervising  staff.  The 
supervisor  knows  the  field,  the  church,  community,  institution, 
etc.  The  professor  knows  the  pupil.  The  supervisor  and  the 
professor  must  work  in  perfect  harmony  if  the  interests  of 
both  field  and  pupil  are  conserved.  One  supervisor  closed  an 
address  on  the  subject  of  co-operation  with  these  words: 

“There  is  need  of  co-ordination  between  the  two  agencies — the 
training  staff  and  the  supervisory  staff.  This  demands  the  full¬ 
est,  freest,  frankest  exchange  of  view  through  conference,  con¬ 
ference,  conference .” 

It  is  recommended  that  the  initial  organization  for  the 
supervision  of  laboratory,  demonstration  and  practice  work  be  as 
follows : 

1.  Director  of  Field  Work.  This  officer  will  be  in  general 

charge  of  all  field  assignments  of  pupils  in  cooperation 
with  class  teachers  and  heads  of  departments. 

2.  Assistant  Supervisors.  The  Director  of  Field  Work  may 

have  such  assistance  as  the  work  demands  and  avail¬ 
able  funds  can  supply. 


16 


3.  Council  on  Laboratory  and  Practice  Work.  This  Council 

shall  consist  of  the  heads  of  all  departments,  the  Dir¬ 
ector  of  Field  Work,  and  his  assistants,  the  Dean  of 
Men  and  the  Dean  of  Women.  This  Council  will  form¬ 
ulate  rules  and  regulations  governing  the  administration 
of  field  work  not  inconsistent  with  general  faculty 
regulations. 

4.  Departmental  Conferences.  Within  each  department, 

there  will  be  held  frequent  conferences  for  the  purpose 
of  regulating  and  unifying  the  standards  of  laboratory 
and  practice  work  within  the  department. 

5.  A  Director  of  Training  in  Each  Church  or  Institution 

in  Which  Training  Work  is  Attempted  Experience 
has  shown  that  four  things  invariably  happen  when 
a  training  school  undertakes  to  use  a  church  or  in¬ 
stitution  as  a  laboratory  or  training  center. 

a.  The  local  leaders  become  jealous  of  their  authority. 

b.  Local  teachers  and  voluntary  workers  refuse  to  work 
in  the  presence  of  the  “experts”  from  the  University. 

c.  The  church  resents  being  used  as  a  practice  ground 
for  students  and 

d.  The  burden  of  expense  falls  upon  the  University. 

These  difficulties  can  be  overcome  if  a  capable  Director  of 
Training  is  added  to  the  force  of  the  local  institution  at  the 
expense  of  the  training  school.  While  training  the  college 
students  he  will  also  train  the  local  leadership. 

The  following  references  are  of  value  in  this  connection : 

Works,  G.  A.  “The  Relation  Between  Teacher-Training  Depart¬ 
ments  Under  the  Provision  of  the  Smith-Hughes  Act  and 
State  Supervisors  of  Agriculture  for  the  State  Board  for 
Vocational  Education.”  Proceedings  National  Education 
Association.  1918.  pp.  272-275. 

Morrison,  Henry  C.  “The  Supervision  of  High  School  Teaching.” 

The  School  Review.  Vol.  27,  No.  1,  pp.  13-23,  Jan.  1919. 
Power,  Leonard.  “A  Plea  for  the  Supervision  of  Instruction  by 
Principles  of  Elementary  Schools.”  The  Elementary  School 
Journal.  Vol.  19,  No.  6,  pp.  408-418,  Feb.  1919. 

Dunn,  Fannie  W.  “The  Distinction  Between  Administration  and 
Supervision.”  Journal  of  Educational  Administration  and 
Supervision.  Vol.  6,  No.  3,  pp.  159-166,  March,  1920. 
Athearn,  W.  S.  “ Religious  Education  and  American  Democracy .” 
pp.  182-183. 

The  Relationship  of  Graduate  and  Undergraduate  Training  Schools  to 
Churches,  Institutions,  Denominational  and  Interdenominational  Boards 
Which  Employ  its  Graduates. 

The  output  from  training  schools  goes  into  churches,  in¬ 
stitutions,  communities,  or  into  the  service  of  denominational 
and  interdenominational  boards  or  associations.  There  is  need 
for  these  schools  and  these  agencies  and  institutions  to  est- 
lish  cooperative  relationships.  Only  as  the  school  understands 
the  tasks  its  pupils  are  to  do  can  it  fully  meet  the  needs  of 
the  field  it  seeks  to  serve. 


17 


During  recent  months,  education  and  industry  have  been 
seeking  methods  of  cooperation  in  the  training  of  recruits  for 
the  great  industrial  organizations.  The  leading  industries  have 
formed  a  Council  of  Management  Education  which  seeks  to 
cooperate  with  the  American  Council  of  Education  in  the 
development  of  an  educational  program  which  will  enable  the 
industries  to  get  from  the  colleges  the  type  of  practical  training 
which  modern  conditions  demand.  It  was  recognized  both  by 
the  industries  and  by  the  colleges  that  the  formation  of  speci¬ 
fications  as  to  processes,  types  of  work  or  “jobs”  and  numbers 
of  men  needed  were  the  prime  responsibility  of  industry.  When 
these  data  were  determined  the  technical  process  by  which  the 
college  produced  these  “types”,  “qualities,”  etc.  was  the  prime 
responsibility  of  the  colleges. 

It  is  clear  that  some  such  relation  should  be  established 
between  the  training  schools  and  the  employing  agencies.  The 
Board  of  Home  Missions  and  Church  Extension  of  the  Method¬ 
ist  Episcopal  Church,  for  example,  could  be  served  much  more 
efficiently  if  training  schools  were  to  receive  from  it  explicit 
specifications  as  to  types  of  service,  numbers  needed,  qualities 
required  for  successful  practice  in  specified  positions,  etc.,  etc. 
With  these  data  in  hand  these  faculties  could  employ  whatever 
technical  processes  might  be  required  to  produce  these  results 
with  the  greatest  economy  of  time  and  money.  The  Board  of 
Home  Missions  and  Church  Extension  would  judge  the  pro¬ 
cesses  by  the  efficiency  of  the  service  rendered  by  the  graduates. 
Employing  Boards  are  not  concerned  with  the  technique  of 
training;  they  are  concerned  with  the  results  of  training.  Train¬ 
ing  schools  must  be  concerned  with  both.  They  should  seek 
counsel  and  advice  from  such  Boards  and  Agencies  that  they 
may  be  mutually  helpful. 

The  following  references  will  show  present  tendencies  in 
this  field : 

Godfrey,  Hollis.  “Cooperation  Between  Industry  and  the  Colleges.” 
Educational  Review.  Vol.  60,  No.  1,  pp.  42-51,  June  1920. 

Morris,  J.  V.  L.  “Separateness  of  Vocational  Education  in 
Manufacture.”  Journal  of  Educational  Administration  and 
Supervision.  Vol.  6,  No.  3,  pp.  159-166.  March,  1920. 

Nichols,  Henry  W.  “Opportunities  Open  to  the  Textile  Schools.” 
Educational  Review.  Vol.  59,  No.  4,  pp.  332-341,  April,  1920. 

h.  Present  Needs 

Our  present  crisis  in  leadership  training  consists  in  three 
vital  elements. 

1.  We  have  few  trained  technicians  in  the  field  of  church 

work.  Our  graduate  schools  have  not  been  prophetic 
and  we  are  not  prepared  with  scientific  experts. 

2.  Text  books  and  manuals  of  training  are  not  at  hand. 

They  must  be  created  by  men  already  overburdened 
with  administrative  and  supervisory  responsibilities. 


18 


3.  Laboratories  and  laboratory  technique  are  almost  un¬ 
known.  These  constitute  the  most  difficult  problems 
which  confront  those  who  are  seriously  facing  the 
training  problems  in  our  institutions  to-day. 

Our  needs  are  money  for  laboratories  and  enlarged  faculties, 
and  time  to  solve  these  new  problems  of  the  training  schools  of 
the  future. 

i.  The  Wider  Outlook 

In  the  building  of  a  program  for  the  training  schools  of  the 
future  and  in  the  creating  of  policies  and  ideals  for  which  the 
various  departments  of  these  schools  will  stand,  the  faculty  will 
be  tempted  to  cater  to  superficial,  immediate  and  popular 
demands.  There  are  great  national  and  international  move¬ 
ments  reflecting  world-wide  conditions.  There  are  fundamental 
laws  that  condition  social  and  economic  movements.  There  are 
profound  philosophies  which  speak  in  terms  of  universals.  The 
policies  of  these  schools  must  be  formed  in  the  light  of  these 
more  fundamental  and  more  universal  considerations.  The 
faculty  should  be  students  of  men  and  events.  Local,  minor, 
personal,  ephemeral  interests  must  be  interpreted  in  terms  of 
the  wider  outlook  and  of  the  deeper  insight.  This  paragraph 
calls  for  a  faculty  of  educational  philosophers  and  statesmen 
who  seek  to  find  what  ought  to  be,  rather  than  shrewd  politic¬ 
ians  who  keep  their  ears  to  the  ground  in  a  vain  endeavor  to 
find  out  what  will  win  temporary  applause  from  the  people. 

III.  Community  Training  Schools  for  Parish  Workers 

With  technical  schools  turning  out  professional  leaders,  and 
Church  colleges  sending  their  annual  crop  of  trained  lay  leaders 
into  the  voluntary  service  of  the  local  churches,  there  will  still 
be  a  need  for  community  cooperation  in  the  training  of  leaders 
for  the  local  parish.  Community  training  schools  have  been 
in  successful  operation  for  the  past  ten  years.  They  offer  a 
method  of  federating  the  training  facilities  of  all  churches  of  a 
community  and  placing  the  combined  resources  of  all  at  the 
service  of  each.  In  the  past  these  schools  have  been  limited 
largely  to  the  training  of  Sunday-school  teachers.  There  is  no 
good  reason  why  their  service  should  not  be  extended  to  include 
other  types  of  church  workers. 

For  further  study  see  Athearn,  W.  S.  “The  City  Institute  for 
Religious  Teachers”  and  Educational  Bulletins  1918,  Nos.  5,  6,  7, 
8,  International  Sunday-school  Association. 

IV.  Training  Programs  in  the  Local  Church 

1.  Regardless  of  the  facilities  which  may  exist  in  the  com¬ 
munity  or  in  the  denomination  for  the  training  of  leaders,  every 
local  church  will  find  need  for  a  training  system  of  its  own.  To 
increase  the  efficiency  of  the  working  force  “green  hands” 


19 


must  be  broken  in  and  present  workers  must  be  given  additional 
training.  Every  progressive  organization  must  therefore  have 
a  training  system.  Every  training  system  requires  a  trainer  or 
a  director  of  training.  This  training  system  must  do  these 
things : 

a  Secure  the  right  people  for  training  by  some  suitable 
method  of  selection. 

b  Hold  the  learner  through  the  training  process. 

c  Establish  standards  and  judge  the  training  by  these 
standards.  The  training  system  should  cover  the  whole 
plant,  janitors,  ushers,  parish  visitors,  teachers,  club 
leaders — all  can  be  improved  by  training. 

2.  Training  is  a  job  for  a  specialist.  In  setting  apart  a 
member  of  the  staff  for  this  special  service  four  qualities  should 
be  kept  in  mind : 

a  A  good  workman — a  person  not  good  enough  to  do  a 
job  is  not  good  enough  to  be  an  instructor.  An  ex¬ 
perienced  church  worker,  all  else  being  equal,  will  make 
the  best  trainer.  A  second  class  worker  can  not 
produce  first  class  workers. 

b  A  good  general  education.  The  broader  the  general 
culture  the  more  likely  the  leader  is  to  command  the 
confidence  of  capable  students. 

c  Age — not  too  old  to  grow. 

d  Professional  skill.  An  efficient  teacher  must  be  able  to 
analyze  the  tasks  to  be  done,  and  to  arrange  these 
tasks  in  proper  sequence  for  easy  mastery  by  the  stud¬ 
ent.  This  requires  pedagogical  skill. 

3.  When  the  Director  of  Training  has  been  selected  he 
should  be  set  free  to  develop  the  workers  independent  of  the 
regular  routine  of  the  church.  Once  set  free  for  his  task  the 
Director  of  Training  would  probably  proceed  somewhat  as 
follows : 

a  Make  a  list  of  all  the  things  to  be  done  in  connection 
with  the  institution.  This  would  be  a  list  of  jobs. 

b  Make  a  parallel  list  of  people  who  are  now  working  at 
these  jobs. 

c  Check  the  names  of  the  persons  who  are  doing  the  work 
most  efficiently,  most  economically,  most  happily. 

d  Classify  the  tasks  of  the  church  in  the  order  of  greatest 
need  of  improvement. 

e  Begin  with  the  weakest  spot  in  the  church;  make  a  job 
analysis  of  this  task.  Find  exactly  what  elements  enter 
into  this  job.  List  the  facts  that  should  be  knowm  by 
those  who  are  to  do  this  job;  list  the  acts  that  enter 
into  the  doing  of  this  job,  and  the  personal  qualities 
required  for  the  successful  discharge  of  this  particular 
function. 


20 


f  Having  listed  the  information,  the  acts  of  skill,  and  the 
personal  qualities  necessary  to  success,  the  trainer  est¬ 
ablishes  certain  standards  for  this  service.  He  then 
selects  from  the  personnel  of  the  church  those  people 
having  the  personal  qualities  required  for  this  work, 
and  gives  them  the  facts  or  information  and  drills  them 
in  the  required  acts  of  skill  until  they  meet  the  stand¬ 
ards  established.  At  the  heart  of  each  group  he  will 
place  the  persons  who  already  do  this  work  better  than 
any  other  persons  in  the  church.  This  plan  capitalizes 
the  best  talents  and  uses  them  as  models  for  those  who 
are  learning.  If  the  director  of  training  has  begun 
with  the  ushers  he  will  give  this  group  intensive  train¬ 
ing  until  they  have  reached  the  required  degree  of 
efficiency.  He  will  then  go  to  the  parish  visitors  both 
paid  and  voluntary.  The  task  will  be  studied  in  the 
same  way  and  instruction  and  drill  will  be  continued 
until  a  stated  standard  has  been  reached.  The  process 
will  be  continued  from  task  to  task  through  the  church. 
This  Director  of  Training  will  have  for  his  special  task 
the  improvement  of  the  staff.  He  will  study  the  best 
processes,  cooperate  with  the  heads  of  departments  and 
other  specialists  who  may  be  employed  in  the  regular 
work  of  the  church.  Other  workers  will  be  responsible 
for  the  regular  routine  of  the  church  work,  he  will 
be  responsible  for  the  numbers  and  quality  of  the 
workers.  For  additional  study  of  this  topic  see: 

Tead  and  Metcalf,  “Personnel  Administration.” 

Allen,  Charles  R.  “The  Instructor.  The  Man  and  the  Job.” 

Galbreth,  F.  B.  and  L.  E.  “Applied  Motion  Study.” 

Galbreth,  F.  B.  and  L.  E.  “Fatigue  Study.” 

Galbreth,  F.  B.  “Motion  Study.” 

Tead,  Ordway  and  R.  B.  Gregg.  “Outline  of  Job  Analysis.” 


V.  Summary 

The  thesis  of  this  paper  is  that  the  training  of  the  staff  of 
a  church  or  religious  institution  is  a  task  for  a  specialist.  The 
method  and  special  technique  of  this  specialist  will  be  developed 
in  the  laboratories  of  the  graduate  schools  where  specialists  will 
be  trained  for  technical  service.  The  Church  college  is  the 
logical  training  ground  for  the  rank  and  file  of  the  voluntary 
workers  in  the  local  church  and  community  and  the  recruiting 
station  for  professional  leadership.  The  most  statesmanlike 
method  of  providing  a  trained  staff  for  the  local  church  is  to 
provide  adequate  resources  at  once  for  laboratories  and  super¬ 
visory  staffs  at  graduate  centers,  and  to  insist  on  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  vocational  courses  in  religion  and  social  service  in 
all  Church  colleges. 


21 


The  Council  of  Cities  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
is  composed  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  the  Superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  Department  of  City  Work,  of  the  Board  of  Home 
Missions  and  Church  Extension  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  the  Executive  Secretary  and  two  delegates  from 
each  duly  organized  City  Society.  It  meets  annually  for  the 
purpose  of  conference  and  discussion  of  the  problems  met  in 
ministering  in  an  adequate  manner  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
to  that  part  of  city  communities  where  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  has  undertaken  to  interpret  Jesus  Christ  and  to  plan 
how  Methodism  may  meet  the  religious  and  social  needs  of  the 
folks  of  many  tongues  who  make  up  our  urban  population. 

“Training  of  Specialized  Staff  Leadership’’  was  delivered  at 
the  Fourth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Council  at  Buffalo,  New 
York. 


Boston  University  School  of 
Religious  Education  and 
Social  Service 

A  Vocational  School  for  Religious  Leaders 
Located  in  the  Heart  of  Historic  Boston 

*8? 

Courses  of  Instruction 

Undergraduate  and  Graduate  Courses  leading  to 
the  following  degrees: 

Bachelor  of  Religious  Education 
Bachelor  of  Social  Science 
Master  of  Arts 
Master  of  Social  Science 
Master  of  Religious  Education 
Doctor  of  Philosophy 

Fields  of  Service 

This  School  prepares  students  especially  for  the 
following  fields  of  service: 

Religious  Education 
Americanization 
Social  Engineering 
Home  Missions 
Foreign  Missions 

General  Church  Work 

(Including  Deaconess  and  Secretarial  Work) 

Rural  Church  Work 

The  Fine  Arts  in  Religion 

*8? 

Send  for  Illustrated  Catalogue  giving  description  of  Courses  and 

other  information.  Address : 

DR.  ARTHUR  E.  BENNETT,  Executive  Secretary 
607  Boylston  Street  Boston,  Massachusetts 


. 


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